


If Percy Listens To The Voice In His Head

by fElBiTeR



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Percy, Camp Half-Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Drowning, M/M, Nightmares, Pre-Slash, Prophecy, Spoilers, Time Pocket
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-09-12 13:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9073072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fElBiTeR/pseuds/fElBiTeR
Summary: Percy Jackson felt as if those golden eyes staring at him could pierce right into his soul and kill him, Percy stared right back, hoping his fear wasn't visible through his own eyes. Kronos stepped closer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I, honest to god, have no idea what I'm doing. Here I present to you my second fic, and hopefully it isn't that bad. I have no beta reader or anything, and I've looked over it... once... things should be fine. Enjoy C:
> 
> Updates are probably most likely very very very spastic, but the story isn't gonna very very long either so—

Percy Jackson doesn’t know how he got here. There in front of him was a lake, but it was too dark to see whether the water was crystal clear or murky and dirty. The waxing moon shone in the night sky, but the sky wasn’t by any means clear. Dark storm clouds, Zeus’s doing, was gathering over Camp Half-Blood, as well as the entire East Coast of the United States.

The Gods were fighting, not amongst each other, but all together against a much stronger evil, Typhon, who had escaped Mount Saint Helens... because of Percy. Well, at least Zeus was fighting, along with several of his children. Hades was unwilling to fight, and Poseidon, Percy’s father, was defending his own kingdom against Oceanus.

Percy winced as a large thunderbolt stuck overhead, omitting deafening cracks and booms. He was also in the middle of the war, so he should be helping Annabeth and Chiron plan their next move, rather than sneaking off in the middle of the night. Grover was... somewhere doing satyr things. Nothing but his own rational mind could have stopped Percy from coming out here. Too bad his curiousity got the best of him. Too bad he was part human. 

“What’s this supposed to prove anyway,” Percy mumbled under his breath, kicking a completely innocent pebble across the dark forest floor.

 _I’m just showing you how ruthless your Olympian Gods can be. They have no time to mourn when in war. Even if it is his own child who has passed,_ a cold voice scraped against Percy’s spine.

Oh right. Kronos had somehow convinced Percy to test the Gods in desperate times. Not that Percy had believed that nonsense. Kronos wanted Percy to kill himself by ‘dying in the best way’, to prove his point. Percy concluded, from the lake and the isolation, that Kronos’ idea of the ‘best way to die’ for Percy was either in battle (“ _Boring and too honorable”,_ Kronos had said) or to somehow drown. He only came out here to prove Kronos wrong.

“I’m the son of Poseidon. I can’t drown even if I wanted to,” Percy protested.

 _Nonsense,_ the Titan retorted. _Anyone can die, mortal or immortal. Especially you. Actually, the possibility of a hero dying is very high. Or did they not tell you that either?_

“Shut up,” Percy grunted out, but Kronos just chuckled as if he knew what was about to happen. Percy frowned.

 _The same exact brooding expression as your father,_ Kronos murmured. Percy knit his brows together, wanting to ask, “ _What in Hades does that mean?”_ but was cut off.

Kronos’ tone turned dark. _If you’re fairly confident that you won’t die, you shouldn’t have any trouble doing this, young hero._

Percy swallowed and tried not to doubt his father too much.

 _Now, Perseus Jackson._ A pause. _Drown yourself in the lake, Kronos spoke smoothly into his head. And Percy listened, like the thick-headed confident idiot he was._

Rather than jumping into the pond, Percy slowly lowered himself into it. He shivered as soon as his skin hit the icy water. He took one large breath of the night air and let himself sink down. He closed his eyes and tried relaxing and concentrating like he usually did when he stayed underwater to think. Percy’s hair swayed above him as he sank. Was it just him or did his body feel a bit heavier than normal? _Please father,_ Percy prayed as he neared the pond bed, _don’t let him be right._

It had only been a minute. A very short and vigorous minute, and Percy was already struggling.

 _Doesn’t it burn, Jackson?_ Kronos whispered. Percy would have have shot a sarcastic comeback at him, but he was currently busy, continuing to hold his breath. Normally he could breathe even while _in_ the water, but as of now, he was struggling to for a mere single minute. He could feel his lungs heaving, struggling for oxygen.

 _I know what you’re thinking. ‘What if I take a deep breath in and it turns out I could have actually breathed in the water the whole time?’ If you believe in your father that much, just do it. Or maybe you already know, young hero, that your abilities have subsided because of other more important things that are occurring,_ Kronos took the words right out of Percy’s brain. Percy shook his head.

It had been two minutes, longer than a normal human could hold their breath, but not long enough to satisfy Percy.

His head was pounding now, the sound of blood pumping through his ears wasn’t pleasant either, every cell in his body was screaming for oxygen. He kept fighting even though he felt as if his head would implode in on itself any moment.

 _The longest two minutes of your life, Perseus?_ Kronos’s cold voice bloomed at the back of Percy’s head. In fact, he’d just noticed that everything else besides the voice was burning. A hot wave of desperation had washed over him. Percy tried using the voice as an anchor, attempting to remember how cold the voice felt compared to the aching from the rest of his body. His lungs continued burning. _Okay,_ Percy gasped for air in his mind, _I’m wrong, my dad won’t help, and I need some fucking oxygen right now._

By now, Percy had done the smart thing and began swimming upward. He kept kicking, but felt as if the distance to the surface was staying the same. He stretched his right hand upward, hoping somehow Annabeth or Poseidon was on the surface waiting for him, meeting his extended hand halfway. No one was there.

Percy proceeded to sink back down like like a heavy weighted rock. He thought about the irony of the situation; the son of Poseidon was drowning.

There was a dizziness, then a sense of anguish. Percy, in his last rational moments, thought, _It’s like someone’s holding a gun to my head and telling me to pause my heartbeat. I need to... Dad, please hear me..!_

Blue and black specks danced across his vision as Percy clutched at his chest.

Crying underwater was like not crying at all. The saltwater from his eyes mixed with the brine of the ocean. He couldn’t feel any tears on his cheeks, so Percy hadn’t even realized he was tearing up until now. He blinked them away. Was it from the pain or from the fact that Poseidon really couldn’t tell what was happening to his son? There was no ‘Panic now, your son is dying!’ alert. The water wouldn’t listen to Percy as long as his father needed its strength to fight. No one knew he was gone. He hoped that he wouldn’t bump into Nico or Hades down in the underworld. Boy, that would be embarrassing.

Percy couldn’t focus and he couldn’t breathe and-

 _Breathe, Perseus Jackson,_ a calm voice spoke to him. The calm voice seemed more logically sound than Percy was, so he listened to it.

And so, the son of Poseidon opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

Percy drank in all he could, water spilling into his lungs. What had once been his greatest ally was now the thing that would kill him. Why had he listened to Kronos? _Because,_ he answered his own question, _I didn’t think water would kill me given my heritage. And I just wanted to prove Kronos wrong, which didn’t turn out all that smart. You idiot,_ Percy’s inner voice chided himself.

There was no air in all the water that had just rushed down his lungs. Everything felt blocked and he tried coughing the water out, only to find himself sucking more right back in and making the situation worse. Percy’s body just shut down.

Small bubbles escaped his mouth and drifted to the surface. They were the only sign that Percy had been at the lake.

Drowning didn’t physically hurt as much as he thought it would, but emotions, on the other hand, were a different story. They kept him alive.

Percy knew he was no longer awake, only barely conscious of the nothingness around him. The shock was rising now that he had actually drowned and the aching in his lungs had subsided.

He... was dying. And nobody would know. His father wouldn’t find out until Nico spotted his soul wandering in the Underworld or someone were to find his body at the bottom of this lake, the least likely place they would search.

Would Percy’s father mourn him? _No time during war,_ Percy’s mind repeated what Kronos had said earlier.

As Percy thought this, he remembered all the times that he had prayed for help or guidance from Poseidon, and he got no answer. Percy had sat on the edge of the lake by Camp Half-Blood, legs submerged underwater most of the time. Sometimes he skipped stones. Sometimes he just sat and stared into the water. Sometimes he sat at the bottom. The only constant was his one way conversations between himself and Poseidon. At the end of each ‘conversation’, Percy always asked for a sign that Poseidon was listening. There never was one.

Shortly after discovering he had a cyclops half-brother, Percy and Annabeth went after the _Princess Andromeda._ Tyson had asked their father for transportation, and Poseidon had immediately sent a hippocampus to help them. Percy had felt a faint twinge of jealousy and immediately squashed the feeling. Poseidon _had_ stated that Percy was his favorite son.

 _Or are you? How are you so sure that those words are true? Have you not seen Tyson, Triton, Polyphemus, Atlas, not to mention Theseus, and all the powerful things they’ve done?_ the voice planted a seed of doubt.

 _I’ve almost defeated you without my father’s help,_  Percy shot back, his mind wondering what the outcome of the war would be like without him.

Despite his resistance, Percy knew that the words Kronos spoke had been only truth. Tyson had been invited to Poseidon’s palace underground, and Triton had already been living there. Because Percy was the only known half-blood son of Poseidon, he was the only one Poseidon wasn’t ever allowed contact with. No secret visits from his childhood, and no extra favor that seemed to come with the words ‘favorite son’. The sea god could visit and talk and bond with any of his sons, except for Percy.

_What about all the times Poseidon has assisted his other sons?_

Percy tried shaking off the doubt. He felt Kronos probing through his thoughts and memories, like some prodding his shoulder over and over again. The invasion of his privacy washed a feeling of uncertainty and annoyance over him.

 _Ah, the daughter of Athena. Annabeth Chase?_ Kronos said, trying to provoke Percy.

 _What was the first thing she says every time she sees me? Was it... ‘Luke?’ For a daughter of Athena, she isn’t very bright when it comes to people close to her. I mean, after 3 years of separation, she still has hope that ‘Luke’ will come back to her, and she doesn’t take into consideration what she already has right next to her._ Percy could imagine Kronos’ eyes gleaming as he spoke.

 _Remember when we were in the labyrinth and you ran out of the room? She saw me and immediately called out ‘Luke’ even though—have you seen my eyes?—we are obviously different beings._ _She didn’t bother checking for your health even though you’d just encountered a powerful Titan, mind me, and basically ignored everything around her. All this concern for Olympus’ soon to be savior._ Percy noted the sarcasm.

 _Didn’t she yell at you right afterwards, claiming you wanted Luke to be guilty? Although the truth is the other way around, she wants Luke to be innocent. He’s not exactly important in all this,_ Kronos continued to drawl on.

 _Leave her out of this,_ Percy growled in his mind. Why wasn’t Percy standing in a line full of dead and damned souls waiting to be judged by Minos?

 _But it seems to have an interesting effect on you,_ there was a sly tone in Kronos’ voice. Percy blinked once and saw water for a split second.

He was just so frustrated with all his conflicting emotions, he wanted to punch a wall, but sadly there wasn’t one.

Percy had clenched his fist—

Wait.

If he was unconscious and almost dead, how would he be able to do anything? It was almost as if everything had froze and Percy had just blinked and clenched his fist in slow motion.

His shot eyes opened, widening at the sudden drawn conclusion. Of course! The Titan Lord of Time was right here in his head. Why hadn’t Percy figured it out earlier?

And this is why he’s not a child of Athena.

By now, Percy knows for sure that no one is coming. He’s just stuck in time, underwater with Kronos somehow poking around in his head.

 _You can burn all the food you want,_ _pray as much as you want_. _They will never truly hear you or answer your pleas. No one will help you now. You’re on your own. They can’t interfere. After all, everything is based off of prophecy_ , Kronos spoke from experience.

The feeling of being awake and alive but not needing or being unable to breathe was making Percy extremely uncomfortable. This wasn’t how life worked, and Percy hoped that Kronos would just save him or let him die soon.

 _Wake up, Perseus Jackson,_ Kronos crooned. _You know I’m right._ Percy stared blankly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another installment of me attempting to write stuff
> 
> my first time writing a kiss too btw

For the second time in his life, Percy was tired of water. Percy wanted to get out this body of water and never go anywhere near it again. He was so tired of staying in the liquid, unable to move, unable to speak. The beautiful smell of saltwater and sea life had turned foul and repulsive.

 _Fine,_ Percy gave in reluctantly. _You may be right, but that doesn’t mean I’m helping you destroy the world._ He waited for Kronos to release his hold on time, but it never came. Percy’s confusion turned to understanding.

Kronos wanted to hear him say it.

Percy attempted to speak and a noise of frustration successfully came out.

Percy bit his lip and waited a few seconds more before saying, “Will you just let me drown in peace already?”

“Drown? Why, I was thinking more of a ‘I beg of you, please don’t let me die and in exchange I’ll serve you for the rest of my life’ kind of response,” came Luke’s voice from behind him. No, not Luke’s. A cold and evil voice that sent chills up Percy’s spine.

“I require your services.” The Luke look-a-like had the same drachma golden eyes that Percy remembered from the labyrinth, after he saw Luke’s body in the coffin. He still regretted not bringing Riptide down onto Kronos when he had the chance.

Percy tried swimming away from Kronos. Instead, he just made small ripples in the water and made himself look silly. Kronos gave him a look of amusement and put a hand on his shoulder. Percy really wanted to swat that hand off because it carried some heat that Percy was currently lacking.

“Change your mind yet, young hero?” Luke’s twisted voice said.

Percy frowned. “Can you just—don’t speak like that in Luke’s voice? Or at least stop calling me ‘Perseus Jackson’? It’s weird. Can't you just, I dunno, call me by my first name like a normal person?” Percy ranted, forgetting for a short while that Kronos was definitely _not_ a normal person, and that he may not appreciate Percy’s rude tone.

 _Crap,_ Percy thought, immediately regretting what he had just said.

“Making demands are we? If you were speaking to Zeus, he would have your head rolling and charred for your disrespect, with your father watching on the side. However, I think such boldness is a useful quality, Percy Jackson. Is that right? Percy?” Percy’s name rolled off of Kronos’ tongue, spoken in a way that sounded semi-threatening yet coaxing and impressed as well as proud of Percy, all at the same time. Or at least Percy thought he heard pride in Kronos’ tone.

What could he even be proud of? _If one of your sons were to produce not only a powerful grandson but also a child who could pull off good defense and offense strategies that could hold off and almost defeat a Titan, would you be proud?_ Percy’s inner voice responded sarcastically. _Maybe._

 _“_ Essentially, I’m saying my sons and daughters aren't applying you in the right way. Or at least not in the way I can,” Kronos dragged on.

“C-can we just, I dunno, talk about this _above_ water?” Percy interrupted. They were both mostly immobilized because Kronos’ strong suit was not water and although Percy’s was, he couldn’t do anything. Technically he shouldn’t even be able to talk.

“Although you sometime lack in the respect department, I can tolerate that,” the Titan was all but whispering by the time he finished his statement. Percy narrowed his eyes.

“All right, Percy, hold still,” Kronos chuckled a bit mockingly. _Hold still_ , Percy thought. _Wow._

Kronos’ voice sounded a lot closer and on his left, and soon, Percy could see his figure in his peripheral vision. There were suddenly two hands on his chest, and Percy was lying flat on the lake bottom. Kronos waved his hands, but nothing happened. He sighed.

“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the old fashion way. Bear with me?” Kronos suggested.

Everything somehow slowed even more around them. It was as if Kronos had created his own little pocket of time. _Of course he could do that._

“I think humans call this manual action ‘CPR’,” was Kronos’ only warning before Percy felt hands move his head back. The palms above his lower ribs pressed down about thirty times before moving back to his head. This intimate movement startled Percy and heat rose to his face.

Percy felt a palm on his forehead, then two fingers on his chin. Kronos looked as if he were contemplating whether to pinch the bridge of Percy’s nose, but decided against it.

Instead, Percy’s head was tilted back and there was suddenly another mouth on his.

Percy squeaked and stiffened slightly before loosening his muscles and panicking wildly inside. His body was warming up, in contrast to the freezing water he was in. If Percy glanced up, he would see pieces of the moon scattered as a reflection into the water.

The movements were, at first, chaste and experimental, before there was a small lick and then a tentative nibble at his lips. After what felt like a few seconds, Kronos tugged harder at Percy’s bottom lip, and he couldn’t help but let out a small whimper. A chuckle came from in front of him.  

Kronos’ fingers slowly pressed against Percy’s slightly bruised lips and then moved his other hand below Percy’s ear, his thumb lightly caressing Percy’s cheek. Percy unconsciously leaned into the touch, his tongue darting out to taste those delicious calloused fingers—

 _W-why am I responding? What about Annabeth? Villain-Kronos-Titan . He’s your fucking grandfather!_ A slew of thoughts flew through Percy’s mind. Ultimately, none of them mattered. Percy’s rationality had taken Apollo's Sun Bus and gone on a trip far, far away.

Percy, finding himself able to move again, could not resist his stupid hormones and wrapped his arms around Kronos’ neck to close the distance between them. He hadn’t even realized his eyes were shut the entire time until he opened them and was greeted by familiar golden eyes. Those eyes were glowing, piercing, under the water, and stared right through Percy. Percy’s breath hitched and his entire body was shaking. _Out of fear? Out of anticipation?_

Once he had realized Percy’s eyes were on him, Kronos’ mouth curled into a wicked grin before pressing their bodies even closer. Percy shivered at the contact.

“Open up for me,” Kronos whispered into his ear, tracing and nipping at Percy’s earlobe. Percy’ throat made a noise, familiar to that of someone being strangled.

Percy let out a half noise of confusion as Kronos’ tongue delicately traced the seam of his lips before pushing in easily; Percy’s mouth had parted with little to no hesitation. The movements were just too _hot_ and too _real_ and Percy just wanted _moremoremore_

Kronos pulled away so Percy could breathe, making him whimper at the lost of contact.

_He could breathe under water again!_

The thought was lost when Kronos pressed their foreheads together. Their breaths mingled for a short moment before Kronos slipped his tongue back into Percy's mouth. He couldn’t help but arch his hips a little towards Kronos, and then Kronos _sucked on his tongue_ as if it were the most normal thing he’d ever done. Percy’s head tingled and a shock of _ohgods_ ran through every nerve of his body.

_Maybe being shocked by Zeus was kind of like this, but a lot more painful._

Percy was dazed, unable to properly react, mewling as the pads of Kronos’ fingers gently pressed into the skin above his hips, subsequently causing his shirt to hike up.

His body was aching, experiencing the same sensation from earlier, but better because it _burned_. Dark spots swam at the corner of his vision, and Percy heard wet splashes as he felt himself being lifted out of the water.

He continued clutching onto Kronos as if he were Percy's lifeline, until a nice friendly gust of wind blew by as a reminder that _Kronos was near Camp Half-Blood and he’s going to slaughter all your friends!_

Percy’s rationality returned to him and he pushed Kronos away, stumbling back and dampening the soil beneath him. His breathing was uneven and ragged. Percy blinked twice and shook himself out of the euphoric haze.

He slowly stood up, bracing himself on a nearby tree.

Kronos continued to smile languidly, looking as if he had just won a war. Percy’s face contorted into an expression of horror after he processed what had just happened.

Percy assessed himself, and realized not only was he _soaked_ , but he was _freezing_ just standing there in the wind, missing the warmth of another body’s contact. He was also panting hard in short breaths, like he had just run a triathalon or done... other questionable activities. He was sure he didn’t look any better, either.

Percy accidentally made eye contact with those golden irises and immediately looked back down. He could feel a small strain against his jeans, and he was painfully aware of the reason why. He gulped and licked his lips, tasting whatever was left over from the kiss. Sweet and bitter. Percy bit his lips, cheeks flushing with mild shame. The forest floor was unusually interesting.

“That was fascinating. Your move now, young hero,” Kronos didn’t sound out of breath at all. Percy stood there, panting and staring, eyes half-lidded, gaping at Kronos who was just casually leaned up against a tree, examining his scythe.

Percy decided he hadn’t done enough stupid things for the day, so he snuck a hand into his back pocket where his knew Anaklusmos would be. He felt the metal tip of the pen on his fingers and whipped it out of his pocket. Riptide expanded to its full form and Percy took comfort of the familiar weight in his hands.

Kronos raised an eyebrow at him, because, obviously, Percy could and would never win this fight. Percy charged and swung the Celestial Bronze at Kronos anyway.

Kronos, using his power over time, just slowed everything down and stepped out of Riptide’s path. Percy immediate swung right, which created a familiar _whoosh_ and then a _clang_ , because just like last time, Riptide had make contact with Kronos’ temporary body, and just like last time, the sword of Poseidon reflected off as if Kronos’ skin were steel.

 _Jeez. I thought people usually didn’t repeat their mistakes twice, especially not within a span of three months,_ Percy would smack himself in the head later, but now, Kronos was swinging Backbiter around as if it were a stick, or rather, a child’s toy.

He gave Percy one last smirk, tantalizing and mocking, and then cooed, “You may want to get rid of your little problem before heading back. Little demigods do love asking so many questions after all,” while glancing at Percy’s crotch area and licking his lips. “I could help you, but I don’t suppose we have that much, how should I say this, time?”

  
Percy made one final rational decision and stuttered towards Camp Half-Blood, making a short pit-stop at a different lake to cool down his problem, not looking back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm... i guess here's an update
> 
> 'scuse me, crappy author passing through-
> 
> Apparently, this site doesn't like bold or italics, so if something looks off, it should probably be one of the two. Manually going through with my own little brain editor is not the best way to check for missing things.

When he ran back into the safety of Camp Half-Blood at 3:40 in the middle of the night shouting bloody murder, no one was particularly surprised. A few campers may have been woken from their beauty sleep, but it was fine. Demigods were always supposed to stay minutely aware of their surroundings anyway.

“What happened now, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth inquired, continuing to scrawl illegible phrases onto an old document without looking up at Percy. Chiron was sifting through some old Greek books to look for battle strategies, or anything helpful at all to contribute, also waiting for Percy’s answer.

Percy licked his lips, and ran a hand through his hair. Hopefully he didn’t look too disheveled.

“I saw Lu-Kronos. Down by that lake over there, right outside of camp,” Percy huffed out, clearly out of breath, gesturing briefly.

“Did you say Luke? Why would he be here and why were you over by the lake so late at night? You know the fleece doesn’t go that far,” Annabeth’s head shot up at the mention of Luke and started doing what she did best, ask questions to start formulating answers.

“No,” Percy paused, feeling slightly annoyed, “I said _Kronos_ , not Luke. Luke’s gone, I saw him. His eyes were golden, not blue, just like back in the Labyrinth.” Annabeth sighed. _See, there’s one thing that Kronos got right._

When Annabeth finally did look at him properly, her only words were, “You look… out of breath.”

Unlike Annabeth, Chiron was a bit alarmed.

“Kronos this close to camp? Do you know why?” Percy, remembering what had just happened, shook his head, trying to fight a rising heat to his cheeks.

“He shouldn’t be able to harm us with the golden fleece up, unless someone were to invite him in. He must be after something. I think the gods should know about this. Will you two go… ?” Chiron trailed off at the end, looking at both Percy and Annabeth.

Annabeth stood up, putting down her ancient texts. She nodded at Chiron and grabbed Percy’s hand as they walked out.

 _I don’t feel the electricity between us anymore. What if Kronos had just ruined me for anybody else?_ Percy thought, somewhat mortified, staring at Annabeth and his own conjoined hands. They continued moving forward.

~

“So, what really happened?” Annabeth asked as if it were obvious that Percy hadn’t just spotted Kronos at a lake coincidently.

“We... talked. But it was more one-sided. For him, I mean. I mostly just stood,” Percy told half of the truth. It was technically true, right? _Lying by omission._

“And what did he say?” Annabeth urged Percy on.

“The usual. ‘Join me, world domination’ type of stuff and him swinging his scythe at me,” Percy mumbled. Annabeth gave him a look of incredulity as they walked along.

“I didn’t listen to him and I didn’t get my soul sucked out, alright?” Percy defended himself from her accusing stare. She gave up their little staring contest first, absentmindedly grabbing a lock of her blond hair.

“Do you really think that Luke… ?” she didn’t finish her statement, but Percy somewhat understood what she meant.

“Luke didn’t take over at any time. It was just Kronos the entire time, if that’s what you mean,” he responded, feeling an uneasy pressure against his heart.

“Why do you keep chewing your lip? Did Luke-”

“ _Can you just stop_!” Percy snarled angrily. “It’s not _all_ about him. _Plus he’s gone_! Buried away and thrown into a corner of his own mind! _Our_ enemy is _Kronos_ , and Luke no longer resides in _that body_!” Annabeth flinched back at his outbreak. She continued walking in front of him without looking back.

Some guilt grew at the back of his mind, but the surging anger blocked it out.

Percy thought he saw golden eyes staring at them from the inside of the forest with glee, but when he turned to look, it wasn’t there. He walked a little bit faster, increasing his gait.

Suddenly, all the anger subsided and instead, a wave of dizziness overtook him. He lurched forward.

“Wait, Annab-” he reached out. Percy blacked out with a thump to the ground.

~

When he came to, he was lying in a puddle of water. His clothes were soaked, again, but it didn’t seem to matter. Looking up, he could see the blurred figure of Chiron and a very colorful outline of a figure beside Chiron.

He opened his mouth wanting to speak, but instead coughed violently, his body trembling. Someone was holding onto him, patting his back to soothe the pain.

“How can he-”

“-water in his lungs-”

“-not possible!”

He could barely open one eye, only listening to the conversation, most likely about him.

“Percy?” He opened his eyes. A man wearing khaki Bermuda pants and a hideous looking Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it was leaning over him. It could only be one person, or rather, one god.

“Dad?” Percy croaked out, attempting to sit up. Poseidon helped him up, gripping both of his shoulders tightly, as if he didn’t know if he should hug Percy or just back off.

After a few moments of extreme awkwardness and silence, Poseidon backed off and coughed to cover up his embarrassment. The blurriness cleared up, and Percy could clearly the origins of his own blue-green eyes.

“You weren’t getting enough oxygen to your brain, and there was water in your lungs. Chiron had put you in some water but it didn’t seem to be helping you, so he called me in. Oceanus seems to have backed off for a while. He’s told me that you’d encountered Kronos a few hours ago. Did he… do anything to you?” Poseidon’s voice soothed Percy the same way ocean waves would. _Oceanus wouldn’t have backed off on his own, so did Kronos do something?_

After a while of thinking, Percy realized his father had asked a question and was waiting for an answer.

Percy dazedly said, “I was supposed to drown. Your water, it-it wouldn’t help me. It hurt, but Kronos-” he coughed harder. Percy couldn’t tell how Poseidon was reacting to his words.

Poseidon, looking just as confused as Percy did, repeated what Percy said for extra clarification. “My water didn’t help you? Do you mean… you couldn’t control it?” Percy nodded.

“I couldn’t breathe underwater, and I was heavy like a normal person. I couldn’t swim away from,” Percy paused to choose his words carefully, “the current.”

“The current,” Poseidon repeated again, staring dumbly back at Percy. _Did something happen to Dad? Why does he look so confused?_

Poseidon stood there under his fishing hat, a confused look _still_ plastered onto his face.

Chiron cleared his throat and asked, “You were coughing out water, did you know? It’s impossible for water to enter your lungs, yet...” he trailed off at the end.

“I lost you for a few moments. You disappeared completely, not alive or dead, dropped out of my range of senses. Just gone,” Poseidon snapped out of his stupor, speaking to Percy while looking him in the eye.

“You can keep track of me?” This time Percy was the confused one.

“I always do. Did you think I would just let you out into the world where you could get killed easily by, let’s say, an ambush? I don’t want you to get hurt, Percy,” Poseidon responded as a matter of factly. Percy didn’t know whether he should be glad that Poseidon does keep track of him, or if he should be angry because Poseidon didn’t think he could take care of himself. Or that Poseidon had been watching and listening to his pleas, but still hadn’t responded to him. Percy just dropped the thought for a moment.

He could almost hear Kronos’ voice taunting him. _He called you Percy instead of ‘son’. Guess you're not on that level yet?_ Percy glared but stopped when he realized there was nothing to glare at.

_I have to know._

“Then why did you never respond?” Percy asked the question that had been lingering in his mind since the beginning of time. It was a desperate statement, and Percy didn’t know if Poseidon was allowed to answer it.

“You said Kronos was nearby?” Poseidon ignored Percy’s question and looked toward the sea. Percy sighed, giving the question up knowing his efforts were wasted.

“He approached me,” Percy spoke vaguely, giving very little detail.

“How would that explain the water in your lungs? Unless you don’t know either. I don’t think anyone can encounter Kronos unscathed,” the god of the sea said, imagining when he and the other two of the Big Three fought Kronos. _Why do they keep repeating the same fact? I know already know water shouldn’t be able to go down my lungs. That’s how normal people work, anyway._

“I almost drowned,” Percy responded hesitantly.

“But that is impossible. As the son of Poseidon, you-”

“Kronos said that the sea was helping you fight Oceanus, which was more important at the time.” _Dammit Percy, you and your stupid mouth!_

Understanding dawned on Poseidon’s face, but by now, Percy wanted to run far away and bury his head into a ditch. He was lucky Poseidon wasn't as temperamental as Zeus.

Poseidon’s expression twisted into one of horror a few second later.

“You almost died because Oceanus and my own control over the sea were clashing. The water didn’t know who to listen to. Percy, I’m so sorry-” Poseidon began, rushing his words. Percy turned the other way, not wanting to look at that layer of real guilt in Poseidon’s eyes.

“Just drop it, Poseidon, please. It happened, there was nothing anybody could have done to stop it.” _Maybe you could have cared a bit more._ “I’m just thankful that Kronos didn’t kill me.” _Someone could have stayed by my side instead of being so engrossed in ancient texts._ “Honestly, I’m fine now.” _That kiss felt too good. If I had to face Kronos again, I would probably drop to my knees and kiss his feet if he asks me to. Or do other extremely questionable things. Him and his evil grin._

Uncertainty was written all over Poseidon’s face. He seemed to have noticed that Percy didn’t call him _Dad_ or _Father_. It was just _Poseidon_.

“I just want to warn you, Kronos can take the things you love and trust and know and manipulate them against you. Don’t let it overcome you, Percy,” Poseidon sighed. “I sense the deep waters stirring once again. Oceanus is coming back. Farewell Percy, and good luck on your next quest.” _Next quest? What?_

Percy turned around to properly look at Poseidon but the god of the sea was gone. In his place was a very worried looking Annabeth, arms hugging herself in a scared and defensive way.

“I’m sorry for taking out my anger on you,” Percy mumbled, not really knowing what to say. There was silence for a few moments, and then Percy felt warm arms wrapping around him.

Annabeth was hugging him.

It was a genuine hug with her face buried in Percy’s soggy shirt, her arms clutching onto his shoulders as if he were about to keel over and die.

“I forgive you, Seaweed Brain,” she mumbled back. They stayed like that for a few moments longer.

“I'm sorry too,” Annabeth’s muffled voice came from below him.

“I didn't know you had almost died!” She pulled away from the hug. “I mean, I know you can handle yourself but-”

“It's alright. I'm still here, aren't I?”

“Mhm,” Annabeth’s face lit up with a fond grin, the kind that was always on her face, the kind Percy had loved so much.

“Let’s get back to camp,” Percy suggested, looking around at wherever the hell they were. The pillars were built like the Parthenon so Percy could only imagine that they were in some god’s temple, maybe Poseidon’s?

“Good idea,” Annabeth agreed. And they walked back, Percy still soaking wet and dwelling on the events that had occurred prior to his returning to camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much Kronos in these 2000 words. I'm gonna try working on the next chapter as soon as I can ;-;


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we've already established that I'm a shitty author and this is a shitty fic but hey here I am with an actual update

_Percy blinked. Somehow, he knew that he wasn’t awake from an odd fluctuating_ _sensation in his head, as well as his blurry vision. He brought his right hand up to his face and stared in fascination at the almost ethereal glow to it. He then looked back up around him. There was a familiar looking chandelier, made of colorful pieces of glass and little fluorescent sparks in between. In the centre of the large room stood a golden circle, almost like a flattened globe, with compass arrows on each designated edge._

_Where had Percy seen this room before? He racked his memory for information, but the information didn't seem to want to come._

_There in the center was a sight to behold. Kronos, still residing in Luke’s body, standing pompously with Backbiter in one hand and the other hand reaching for what seemed to be a golden piece of cloth. Around him were the Greek Gods, still larger than life, all gritting their teeth with frustration as they sent streams and flying sparks of probably very deadly attacks, which Kronos seemingly continued to brush off._

_Kronos had wrapped the golden cloth around his shoulders securely with a dark laugh, like a gown for an king._

_“Percy Jackson.”_

_Then those yellow orbed-eyes turned at Percy and he gasped for air—_

“ _Percy_ Jackson! Hello? Is there even a brain in there? Seriously, it's like your head is filled with water or something,” something rustled beside him. “You know what? I bet if I knocked on your brain, it would be absolutely hollow. Hey, not a half bad idea!”

There was an abrupt pounding trapped inside his skull, thrumming and alive, but it had _hurt_ and “ _Ouch_! What the hell?” Percy’s head darted up to look for danger and saw Annabeth waiting expectantly with her arms crossed.

“You’re late, and we’ve already lost an hour,” she huffed, rubbing her temples.

“And you're crud at being a demi-god. I’ve been yelling into your ears for seven minutes straight!” Annabeth chided. “You could have been killed in your sleep in a sneak attack or something.”

“Wha—woah, w-wait a second!” Percy fell out of his bed when Annabeth tugged hard on his exposed arm. He landed on the floor with a hard thump.

“We need to go or we’ll be late,” Annabeth gestured towards the outside. Percy’s mind drew an empty blank.

“Late… for what?” he mumbled under his breath. Annabeth stared at him with an awaiting expression. When Percy couldn't recall what they were supposed to do today, Annabeth pulled a scroll from behind her back and pulled it open until vivid Greek drawings appeared before him.

“We arranged a fun event because being so stressed over an incoming war _really_ isn't good for us demigods,” she explained, smiling with enthusiasm brimming over the top. “A pentathlon! Exactly like in the old days. Except not as dangerous.” Percy stared up at Annabeth, blinking absently mindedly.

“I thought that old thing was called a _tria_ thalon,” Percy said, but as soon as the words escaped his mouth, he regret it.

“ _Actually_ ,” Annabeth began, with Percy groaning in his head and berating himself for letting Annabeth go off on another rant, “the _tria_ thalon was invented in 1920 in _France_ , with the three most common sporting events as running, swimming, and cycling. Perhaps that's where the Tour De France part of sports kicks in, but, as you know, _tri_ means three while _penta_ means five, warranting five events, running, jumping, discus throwing, wrestling, and an equestrian event.”

After Annabeth saw the look Percy was giving her, she misinterpreted his facial expression as confusion and said, “Oh. By an _equestrian_ event, I mean horse riding. Hey! Did you know that Heracles, or as we say in Greece, Hercules, devised the running sport—”

Percy groaned out loud and stuffed his frustrated face back into his pillow, silently screaming at what he’d done.

***

Percy's just as distracted the rest of the day.

When participating in running, the first listed event in the pentathlon, he drowned out the excited cheering of the other campers, and dwelled on the message in his dream. Dreams, proven time and time again, always had _some_ type of important clue in them, a prophetic clue, whether it be for the outcome of a game, or a symbol that would lead to Percy finding a shattered flowerpot that would make or break the world, depending on whether he interpreted his dream correctly.

Where had he seen a room with a grandeur looking chandelier and the Earth and a compass in the center? _Where_? And the cloth. A golden cloth.

 _Think_ , _Percy_ , he told himself. _Think back to Greek stories. Think back to Greek heroes. Think of Achilles. Think of Hercules. Think of Odysseus. His ship, the Odyssey. Think of other Greek ships. Think of the Argonauts. Think of Jason_. That's it! _Think of Jason’s—_

Percy tripped over a deliberately placed foot, stuck out so that at the perfect moment, Percy would stumble by like a pea brain and that wasn't paying attention and trip over it. And trip over it he did, until he was plunged face first into also well a placed mud puddle, gross and brown and icky that would take forever to clean off unless Percy found a clean water source to use his powers on. He still couldn't pull water vapor from the air on command because… well because he just wasn't ready for that yet.

But something strange had happened. There was no way Percy could have seen the foot of the perpetrator before he fell, nor could he have interpreted the ugly symbol on the sandals as belonging to the house of Ares. Nor should he be able to figure it that the mud puddle was in a perfect ellipse, poured over the ground instead of being created naturally in an eroded hole in the ground. Nor should Percy have had enough time to swivel his head backwards to see Clarisse’s gloating expression and then turn back to lock eyes with a sparrow nearly frozen in mid air, wings flapping as slowly as they could. No, Percy shouldn't have been able to do any of those things, because _all_ he _could_ do was control water.

Percy had fallen forward in _slow motion_. Shit.

Either Percy was way out of his mind and imagined that, or—

“ _Kronos_ ,” he whispered in alarm, loud enough for Clarisse to hear and stop snickering.

“ _What_?” she said, narrowing her eyebrows. “ _What_ did you just call me?”

Percy raised his head to look Clarisse in the eye and shakily said, “Kronos is _here_.”

Clarisse, similar to her hard headed father, scoffed at Percy, dismissing what seemed to be a very strong gut feeling. Not only have visions helped demi-gods along with their quests, but the help of internal compass feelings really assisted them too. There have been so many time Percy’s head could have been chopped off, or all the times he could have taken a wrong turn into a death trap if not for a simple gut feeling. And Percy’s gut feeling is saying that Kronos has gotten into Camp Half Blood.

There’s a vice grip in his stomach, killing all the nervous butterflies that were previously there. His stomach churned, the pain of the vice grip blowing hot and cold and on and off, leaving an uncomfortably feeling unsatisfied notion. It doesn't hurt but it does ache, similar to an empty longing in someone’s heart, except this feeling is twisting and slashing Percy’s guts to shreds.

“Kronos is here,” Percy said a little bit louder. No one could hear him over the increasing sound of cheering. _Villains are really good at catching us off guard_ , Percy thought, eyeing all the jovial runners passing him as he remained seated on a damp patch of muddy grass. He would try to warn the camp one last time, after all, if they didn't hear him and they all ended up being slaughtered by Kronos, there would be no one left to blame but themselves.

 _Oh gods,_ Percy gaped in horror at himself _, did I really try to justify how it would be the other demi-gods’ own faults if Kronos killed them in cold blood?_ He stood up, attempting to wipe wet mud off his shorts _. I really just did, didn't I_?

Clarisse continued looking at Percy confusedly while the other runners passed by. Maybe it was because Percy was acting like more of an airhead than usual.

Percy breathed in a strangely icy breath, and hollered as loudly as he could, “ _Kronos is in Camp Half-Blood!”_ and for theatrics, Percy also added, “ _Run_!”

Pandemonium. Those who were close by and _did_ hear Percy were panicking and shouting, finally passing on his urgent message through the people scattered in the woods.

Percy? Well, he stood there surprised at his own premonition for a few moments, and then got a grip on himself, running to find Annabeth who was probably a lot further ahead because she was very much faster than him during the race.

But how would Kronos has gotten through Camp Half Blood’s protection?

“The tree! The _tree_!” someone screamed off in the distance. _Tree_? Unless they were talking about the large sturdy one at the tip of the camp at Half Blood Hill, which was located right near where Percy was. Huh. How lucky.

“She’s _dying_!” someone sobbed. _Uh, what_? Then again, Percy hasn’t been here for very long.

Paying no mind to all the screams about the tree, Percy continued to search for Annabeth, with no avail. She really must be far ahead in the race. And then he sees a gold flash hidden in the trees and he knows that it was Kronos. Percy doesn’t want to confront Kronos again.

He does the smart thing and runs as fast as he can _away_ from the golden eyes.

And it turns out that Percy is wrong. Annabeth is sitting, shaking slightly below the tree. Percy is immediately alarmed by the sight, and gets an earful about how this pine tree used to be a person, used to be a demigod, used to be _Thalia Grace_. Thalia is dying.

 _Thalia was poisoned_ , Percy thinks numbly. _The protective barrier around the camp is gonna come down. There’s a betrayer in our midst_. All the new information sends a wave of dizziness over Percy, and he has to lean against a tree.

It’s quiet as all the campers gather around the tree, but Percy can see. He can already see the mistrust flashing in everybody’s eyes, of everyone being suspicious of everyone. This is what Kronos wants.

“This is what Kronos wants,” Percy says again, this time, out loud. “He wants us to be divided, so he can pick us off as we mistrust each other. We can’t let him get to us.” _I can’t let him get to me_.

“Percy’s right,” Annabeth back him up with a small sniffle. Then she speak again, staying strong despite the fact that Thalia is dying and there’s probably no cure. “Kronos has been spotted lurking around the camp in the past few days, and he has everything planned out. He expects us to be wary of each other and keeping our guards high against each other, instead of against him. We can’t let him have that advantage over us. We can’t.”

“We're gonna save Thalia and beat Kronos,” Percy says, and he actually means it. Well, at least he does in that moment.

 


End file.
